Hobbiton

On Saturday, April 22nd, I went to Hobbiton with Hannah (a friend from Germany who is currently traveling through New Zealand). Hobbiton is where 'The Hobbit' and 'Lord of the Rings' were filmed. 
In the morning, I was driven to Hamilton by three other au pairs who were going to Waitomo Caves. Hannah then picked me up in her car. We visited the beautiful and famous Hamilton Gardens, had lunch, and then headed to Matamata where Hobbiton is located. However, we left a bit late, so we arrived after 2:10 PM, which is when our tour was supposed to start. Luckily, our tour was waiting for us. If we hadn't made it in time, we wouldn't have been able to join any other tours as they were fully booked for the day - that would have been really frustrating. 
Anyway, we all got on a Hobbiton bus that took us to the Shire. In the bus, we learned about the making of 'Lord of the Rings' and 'The Hobbit' and how this particular location was chosen. 
Once we arrived, our pretty cool tour guide (maybe a bit tipsy :-D) showed us around the entire Hobbit village. Fortunately, the weather was great and the colors really stood out.
It was very nice and interesting to learn so much about the movies and their production, and in my opinion, it was worth it. The only thing that Hannah and I found a bit disappointing was that none of the houses were fully furnished, not even Bilbo Baggins'. 
At the end of the tour, we went to the Green Dragon Inn where we received a free beer or other drink. We also had a small snack there :-) 
And then it was all over and we headed back to Hamilton, where I was picked up again to go back to Auckland. 
But it was definitely worth it! :-)